The Albany River Rats are an ice hockey team in the American Hockey League. They play in Albany, New York at the Times Union Center.

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History

The team was founded as the Capital District Islanders (playing at Houston Field House on campus at RPI located across the Hudson River in Troy, New York) in 1990 but changed their name when the New Jersey Devils sold their old affiliate the Utica Devils to become linked with this team.

In 1998, Walter Robb purchased the franchise from original owner Al Lawrence, allowing the franchise to remain in Albany. Garen Szablewski has served as CEO and President of the River Rats for 15 years since 1994.

The Rats' glory days came in the mid to late 1990s making seven consecutive playoff appearances, won 2 division titles, and took home the AHL's Calder Cup in 1995. Also in 1995, their parent club, the New Jersey Devils won the Stanley Cup.

However, wins have declined since the 1997–98 season, the last time Albany won a playoff series. The River Rats finished last in each of the 6 seasons between 2000–01 and 2005–06. A new affiliation with the Carolina Hurricanes beginning in the 2006–07 season brought hope of a return to AHL glory not seen in Albany since the late '90s.

On March 22, 2006, the Devils announced that they were cutting ties with the River Rats after the 2005–06 AHL season, as the parent club announced the purchase of the Lowell Lock Monsters. Despite the move, the River Rats were not relocated.¹ In April 2006, The Carolina Hurricanes signed a one year agreement (with the option to renew for two additional) with the River Rats to be their farm affiliate.² Later on, Carolina was joined by the Colorado Avalanche in a one-year partnership agreement. On February 22, 2007, the Carolina Hurricanes and Albany River Rats announced that their affiliation agreement had been extended through the 2008–09 season. ³

On April 24, 2008, the River Rats lost 2–3 to the Philadelphia Phantoms in the longest game played in AHL history. The Phantoms Ryan Potulny scored 2:58 into the fifth overtime. Albany gave up 101 shots on goal, and goaltender Michael Leighton made 98 saves.

This market was previously served by:

• Albany Choppers of the IHL (1990–91)

2009 Bus Crash

On February 19, 2009, five people were seriously injured when a bus carrying the team home from a game in Lowell struck a guard rail and rolled on its side on Interstate 90 in western Massachusetts. Nicolas Blanchard, Joe Jensen, Jonathan Paiement, Casey Borer, and the River Rats radio color commentator John Hennessy were taken to Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield with "serious" injuries. ^[1]

Affiliates

• New Jersey Devils (1993–2006)
• Colorado Avalanche (2006–2007)
• Carolina Hurricanes (2006–present )

Season-by-season results

Regular season

Season	Games	Won	Lost	Tied	OTL	SOL	Points	Goals for	Goals against	Standing
1993–94	80	38	34	8	—	—	84	312	315	3rd, North
1994–95	80	46	17	17	—	—	109	293	219	1st, North
1995–96	80	54	19	7	—	—	115	322	218	1st, Central
1996–97	80	38	28	9	5	—	90	269	231	3rd, Empire State
1997–98	80	43	20	11	6	—	103	290	223	1st, Empire State
1998–99	80	46	26	6	2	—	100	275	230	2nd, Empire State
1999–00	80	30	40	7	3	—	70	225	250	4th, Empire State
2000–01	80	30	40	6	4	—	70	216	262	6th, Mid-Atlantic
2001–02	80	14	42	12	12	—	52	172	271	4th, East
2002–03	80	25	37	11	7	—	68	197	235	5th, East
2003–04	80	21	39	11	9	—	62	182	257	7th, East
2004–05	80	29	38	—	6	7	71	198	248	7th, East
2005–06	80	25	48	—	4	3	57	206	278	7th, Atlantic
2006–07	80	37	36	—	4	3	81	246	258	4th, East
2007–08	80	43	30	—	3	4	93	213	198	3rd, East
2008–09	80	33	40	—	3	4	73	219	258	7th, East

Playoffs

Season	1st round	2nd round	3rd round	Finals
1993–94	L, 1-4, PORT	—	—	—
1994–95	W, 4-0, ADIR	W, 4-2, PROV
W, 4-0, FRED
1995–96	L, 1-3, CORN	—	—	—
1996–97	W, 3-1, ADIR	W, 4-3, ROCH	L, 1-4, HAM	—
1997–98	W, 3-0, ADIR	W, 4-0, HAM	L, 2-4, PHIL	—
1998–99	L, 3-2, HAM	—	—	—
1999–00	L, 3-2, ROCH	—	—	—
2000–01	Out of playoffs
2001–02	Out of playoffs
2002–03	Out of playoffs
2003–04	Out of playoffs
2004–05	Out of playoffs
2005–06	Out of playoffs
2006–07	L, 1-4, HER	—	—	—
2007–08	L, 3-4 PHIL	—	—	—
2008–09	Out of playoffs

Team records

Single season

Career

Current Roster

As of July 9, 2009. Data taken from AHL website. ^[2]

GOALTENDERS
#		align=left	Player	Catches	Date of birth	Place of birth
31		Daniel Manzato	L	January 17, 1984	Fribourg, Switzerland
35		Justin Peters	L	August 30, 1986	Blyth, ON, Canada

DEFENSEMEN
#		align=left	Player	Shoots	Date of birth	Place of birth
2		Noah Babin	R	March 11, 1984	Palm Beach Gardens, FL, USA
3		Benn Olson	L	April 29, 1987	Port McNeil, BC, Canada
6		Ryan McGinnis	L	March 3, 1987	Flint, MI, USA
7		Brett Carson	R	November 29, 1985	Regina, SK, Canada
28		Casey Borer	L	July 28, 1985	Minneapolis, MN, USA
33		Bryan Rodney	R	April 22, 1984	London, ON, Canada
34		Jamie McBain	R	February 25, 1988	Edina, MN, USA

FORWARDS
#		align=left	Player	Position	Shoots	Date of birth	Place of birth
8		Nick Dodge	C	R	May 1, 1986	Oakville, ON, Canada
9		Tomas Pospisil	LW	R	August 25, 1987	Sumperk, Czech Republic
10		Mike Angelidis	C	L	June 27, 1985	Unionville, ON, Canada
12		Michael Kennedy	LW	L	April 21, 1986	Dorchester, ON, Canada
14		Yannick Tifu	LW	L	October 12, 1984	Brossard, QC, Canada
15		Zach Boychuk	C	L	October 4, 1989	Airdrie, AB, Canada
15		Stefan Chaput	C	L	March 11, 1988	Montreal, QC, Canada
16		Jakub Petruzalek	RW	R	April 24, 1985	Litvinov, Czech Republic
17		Jerome Samson	RW	R	September 4, 1987	Greenfield Park, QC, Canada
18		Ryan Weston	RW	R	January 9, 1984	Henniker, NH, USA
19		Bobby Hughes	C	L	November 11, 1987	Richmond Hill, ON, Canada
20		Joe Jensen	LW	L	February 6, 1983	Plymouth, MN, USA
22		Harrison Reed	RW	R	January 18, 1988	Newmarket, ON, Canada
23		Brandon Sutter	C	R	February 14, 1989	Huntington, NY, USA
24		Pat Dwyer	RW	R	June 22, 1983	Great Falls, MT, USA
25		Cory Quirk	C	L	July 3, 1986	Brockton, MA, USA
26		Nicolas Blanchard	LW	L	May 31, 1987	Granby, QC, Canada
32		Trevor Gillies	LW	L	January 30, 1979	Cambridge, ON, Canada
36		Brad Herauf	LW	L	August 24, 1982	Regina, SK, Canada

Staff
Title	align=left	Staff member
Head coach	Jeff Daniels
Assistant coach	Geordie Kinnear
Head trainer	Brian Maddox

References

1. Three seriously injured as bus carrying AHL team crashes
2. [1]